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“They took the money, of course,” Slade added and I heard Elwood grunt under his breath.
“There. You’ll be good as new in a few days,” Mom said, stepping away from Slade now to admire her handiwork. Slade reached for another shot of whisky in reaction and downed it and smacked his lips.
“Didn’t feel a thing,” he said and Girth let out a bellowing laugh.
“You might want to wipe the tears from your cheeks first, brother. It’s ruining your makeup,” he said and King laughed too. Slade was still smiling. This smiling motherfucker!
“Come back to me in seven days, Slade. Those stitches need to be removed before they start messing with your skin,” Mom said and wiped her hands with a rag.
I watched as she patted Elwood’s shoulder and threw me a look and nodded her head. No matter how much she disapproved of our lifestyle, she was always going to be there for her husband and for the boys. I smiled at her reassuringly, but she was straight faced. She didn’t find the situation as amusing as Slade did.
“I’ll see you at home,” she said and Dad leaned in to plant a quick kiss on her cheek and then slapped her behind when she walked away from him. I rolled my eyes and looked away.
“This needs to end,” King was wiping his bloodied hand
s on a rag now and he stood up from his chair. Some of the guys had already started a match with Slade, they were downing whisky shots and bets were being placed. King and Girth came up to Elwood and me and Crawford joined in.
“Yeah, this needs to be handled,” Crawford said and my father was nodding his head.
“Kill any Black Skull member you find on our territory,” he said, after a moment silence. King and I exchanged looks.
“Is that an order?” Girth asked and Elwood stared at him and then nodded his head again.
“Yes, do it,” he said and then turned from us and walked away, Crawford close on his heels.
King, Girth and I stared at Slade downing shots at the counter, jostling the other guys.
“We need to put the bastard to sleep,” King said and I shook my head.
“Jewel has pumped enough pills in him. We don’t have to make him do anything,” Girth said.
We watched Slade for a few minutes longer, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Elwood had given us the order, shoot on sight. This was the beginning of a war, which meant that anything could happen.
Slade’s eyelids were beginning to droop as he held up another shot glass to his lips.
“Should he be mixing alcohol with the pills?” King asked and Girth shrugged his shoulders.
“If this doesn’t kill him, something else will,” he said and we looked at each other. He was right. War with the Black Skulls meant that any of us could die, but we had our orders and we had to carry them out.
Slade’s head bobbed once and then he crashed, face forward on the counter and a loud Whoa erupted around us.
“C’mon. Bed time for you, little man,” Girth said and grabbed Slade by the back of his collar, while King and I caught his legs. We carried him upstairs to the bunk room where we deposited him for the night.
xxx
We were on our bikes. King, Girth and I were out to scan the territory. It was the middle of the night, but my mind was buzzing. Too much had happened in one night. The Black Skulls had just beaten up one of our brothers, on our territory.
There would have to be consequences.
“I’ll go north,” Girth called out to us over the sound of our roaring engines and I nodded my head in agreement. King and I rode south. We were not going to give those weasels an opportunity to shake down or rob a business again. And we were definitely not going to give them an opportunity to beat up any of us again. This was going to end and we were going to win.
Gripping my bike tightly, King and I rode together, our eyes scanning every road and every corner that we rode past. I tried not to think of Ava and her ex, that would have to wait another day. At least she was safe for now. But it was difficult to separate the two feelings. My rage against her ex was fueled even more by what had happened to Slade; even though the two things were not connected. If the Black Skulls hadn’t messed with Slade, Blaine Salzburg would have been dead by now.
I was riding with King beside me and the sound of a gunshot alerted us.
“It came from the north!” King roared out and we both made a U-turn in unison, picking up speed. The gunshot had come from the direction that Girth had gone. Another shot was fired and we rode even faster.
In the distance, we could see Girth, standing on the pavement. He was clutching his shoulder, while his Harley lay flat on the ground. He had jumped off his bike at some point.
